Wheel assembly for an in-line skate with speedometer or odometer assembly

ABSTRACT

An in-line skate wheel assembly for a skate mounted speedometer or odometer that includes a signal processor and display housing mounted on the skate toe with a sensor mounted under the toe very close to the forward wheel. A field producing sensing element is fixed in the elastomeric portion of the forward wheel where it passes in close proximity to the sensor as the wheel rotates. The display housing is connected to the sensor by a flat conductor and the three are quickly removable as a unit from the skate.

RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Division of my U.S. application Ser. No.08/869,091, Filed: Jun. 4, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,335, entitled ASPEEDOMETER OR ODOMETER ASSEMBLY FOR IN-LINE SKATE, and it is beingfiled under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 121.

BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In-line skates of the type having a plurality of elastomeric wheelassemblies mounted in a common plane constitute one of the fastestgrowing product markets over the last ten years, particularly in thiscountry but also in many other developed countries, principally becausethey are relatively easy for the inexperienced skater to maneuver, buteven above that, the high speeds capable with in-line skates on avariety of surfaces, have made them the skate of choice for a variety ofsports, such as hockey, and for newly developed specialized sportingactivities, such as acrobatic skating.

In most sporting activities that are speed related, it is desirable toprovide speedometer and odometer systems for the user to betterappreciate his or her speed or distance achievements and improvements.However, somewhat surprising, and as a result of the search that wasconducted in anticipation of this application, no suchspeedometer-odometer assembly has been provided that can be integrateddirectly into both after-market and OEM in-line skates, and it is tothat objective that the present invention is pointed.

The patents found in this search include:

    ______________________________________                                        UNITED STATES PATENTS                                                         Inventor     U.S. Pat. No.   Issue Date                                       ______________________________________                                        Smith        2,505,154       4-25-50                                          Moll         3,505,878       4-14-70                                          Hadtke       3,978,725       9-7-76                                           Jander, et al.                                                                             4,262,537       4-21-81                                          Price        4,298,910       11-3-81                                          Cameron      4,546,650       10-15-85                                         Tuyn, et al. 4,860,585       8-29-89                                          Dittbrenner  5,003,820       4-2-91                                           Irwin        5,037,303       8-6-91                                           Edwards      5,344,055       9-6-94                                           Pozzobon, et al.                                                                           5,536,026       7-16-96                                          Conway       5,580,093       12-3-96                                          ______________________________________                                    

The Cameron, U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,650; the Tuyn, et al., U.S. Pat. No.4,860,585; the Irwin, U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,303; the Moll, U.S. Pat. No.3,505,878; the Hadtke, U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,725, and the Jander, et al.,U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,537, all show speedometers for snow or water skis.

The Cameron patent is relevant in that it shows a speedometer mountedwith Velcro to the ski and carries a snow-engaging wheel 17 that hasmagnets 19. A Hall effect sensor 20 is positioned so that it detectsmagnetic field changes induced by the passage of the magnets attached tothe wheel. For example, in FIG. 5 the top magnet is oriented so that itsNorth pole points out the right-hand face of the toothed wheel 17 whilethe bottom magnet is oriented so that its South pole points out the sameside. Rotation of the wheel is detected by the Hall effect sensor 20when the magnetic field changes back to its original polarity. Thisindication is then sent to the microcomputer 21 via the conductiveleads(not shown) of the Hall effect sensor 20.

The Tuyn, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,860,585, shows a ski mounted devicesimilar to Cameron's except for a downward spring biasing arrangement.

The Moll, U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,878; the Hadtke, U.S. Pat. No. 3,978,725;the Jander, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,262,537, and the Dittbrenner, U.S.Pat. No. 5,003,820, also relate to ski mounted speedometers but thetechnology is not useable in a built-in design for an inline skate.

The Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 2,505,154, shows a roller skate magneto mountedin the rear wheel of the skate that powers lights.

The Price, U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,910, shows a roller skate with wheelmounted generating devices for lights secured to the wheels or otherparts of the skate.

The Pozzobon, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,026, shows a wheel mountedgenerator for roller skates to provide a power source forcomputer-generated systems for developing data relating to averagespeed, distance and time used to cover the distance in sportingactivities.

FIG. 10 discloses a plurality of first magnets 212 within the wheelassembly, a second set of magnets 215 outside the wheel frame, and aplurality of windings 210 on the inside of the frame facing magnets 212.The inventor says little about this embodiment, but it appears to me tobe an electricity generating system as opposed to a speed sensor.

The Conway, U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,093, shows a generator similar toPrice's.

And finally, the Edwards, U.S. Pat. No. 5,344,055, shows a water bottleholding device for in-line roller blades, which is not of any specificsignificance.

It is a primary object to ameliorate the problems noted above inspeedometer assemblies adapted for other uses and to provide anextremely well-designed wheel assembly for an in-line skate speedometerfor uncomplicated attachment to either after-market or OEM in-lineskates.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In accordance with the present invention, a wheel assembly is providedfor an in-line skate carrying a speedometer-odometer that includes asignal processor-display housing mounted on top of the toe of the skateand a sensor assembly mounted under the skate toe in close proximity toboth the forward wheel and the processor-display housing.

This optimum location on the skate provides a plurality of applicationand manufacturing benefits. The position of the sensor under the toeportion of the skate accommodates the widest variety of skate designs.Wheel frame design, that is the downwardly directed frame from the shoethat supports the in-line wheels, varies significantly from one skatemodel to another so while in one design wheels other than forward wheelsmay have significant portions of wheel surfaces exposed that could beutilized as the sensing wheel, in another design that wheel may becompletely covered except for a small ground engaging portion. Thus, theselection of the forward wheel as the sensing wheel enables the presentspeedometer-odometer to be incorporated into a wide variety of basicskate designs.

Next, the location of the processor display housing on top of the toeand the location of the sensor under the toe provides a compact unitconnected by only a short flat conductor cable that runs over the toe.The short conductor cable, while reducing product cost, makes the unitmore durable and more easily removed from the skate for hockey play oracrobatic skating.

Toward this end the display housing, the flat conductor and the sensorare Velcroed to the skate toe for easy removal as a unit.

An important aspect of the present invention is the mounting of thesensoring element within the elastomeric portion of one of the skatewheels. Typically, the tread portion of in-line skate wheels is a solidpolyurethane elastomer in the Shore A durometer range of 80 to 100. Thefield producing sensing elements, according to one embodiment of theinvention, have threaded shank portions that permit the magnets to bethreaded into holes in the elastomer, either as cast or drilled. This isan extremely secure and durable mounting arrangement for the magneticsensing elements. And also because these elastomers are typicallycompression molded, the magnet elements can, according to anotherembodiment, be insert molded into the elastomer.

Another feature of the present invention is an adjusting mechanism thatenables the sensor to be moved radially toward the sensing wheel as thewheel wears. This is particularly useful in designs that mount themagnet into the outer surface of the wheel.

Another important aspect of the present invention is that the Velcrocarrier for the present speedometer assembly constitutes a safety deviceand that upon side impact the Velcro will release the assemblyminimizing damage to the speedometer assembly and reducing thepossibility of user injury.

A further advantage in the configuration of this speedometer assemblythat includes a flexible flat conductor interconnecting theodometer-speedometer housing and remote sensor enables the assembly toconform to a wide variety of toe shapes.

Other objects and advantages will appear more clearly from the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional in-line roller skate withthe present speedometer-odometer assembly in situ;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective of the speedometer-odometer assemblyillustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the speedometer-odometer assembly illustratedin FIGS. 1 and 2 in place on an in-line skate;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the speedometer-odometer assembly on thein-line skate illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top view of the in-line skate illustrated in FIGS.1 to 4, partly fragmented;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross-section through the flexible flatconductor taken generally along line 6-6 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an implantable magnet assembly utilized in the elastomericwheels in FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 10 is a cross-section of an elastomeric wheel similar to FIGS. 8and 9 with an insert molded magnetic element;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary section of the in-line skate toe portionshowing an adjustment feature for the sensor to compensate for wheelwear, and;

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary side view with the speedometer-odometerassembly removed with a protective strap in its place.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 1 to 5, aspeedometer-odometer assembly 10 is illustrated attached to and wrappedaround a toe portion of a conventional in-line skate assembly 11 thatincludes an upper shoe portion 12 having a toe portion 13 with an uppergenerally downwardly and forwardly sloped surface 15, a generallyvertically downwardly directed arcuate portion 16, and a generally flatrigid lower surface 17. The shoe carries a downwardly depending wheelframe 20 that has flanges 21 and 22 carried by the rigid lower surface18 of shoe portion 12.

Frame 20 has a plurality of removable fastening elements 23, 24, 25 and26, that provide bosses for the wheel assemblies 28, 29, 30 and 31. Eachof the wheel assemblies includes a roller bearing assembly 35 and asolid elastomeric tread portion 37.

The elastomeric tread portion 37 is typically a thermoplasticpolyurethane having a Shore A durometer in the range of 80 to 100.

The speedometer-odometer assembly 10 is designed to be optimally locatedin a position where it can be easily read by the user, is easilyremovable, is safety oriented, and is adapted to sense a magneticelement in the forward one of the wheels 28, 29, 30 and 31, and namely,forward wheel 28. The magnetic elements sensed by the assembly areillustrated in FIGS. 7 to 10. The design of the speedometer-odometerassembly 10 and its capability of sensing forward wheel rotation, givesthe assembly the ability to accommodate the widest variety of in-lineskate and frame configurations.

Toward these ends, the speedometer-odometer assembly 10 includes asignal processor-display housing 40 slidably mounted in a bracket 41,and electrically connected to a sensor assembly 43 by a flat flexibleconductor 45. The conductor 45 can be seen in cross-section in FIG. 6and includes conductors 47 and 48 encased in a flat elastomeric ribbon49 that easily wraps around and conforms to the con9 figuration of theskate toe surfaces 15, 16 and 17, and particularly to accommodatevarying configurations of these surfaces from one skate model toanother.

A Velcro strap, Part A, designated by the reference numeral 51 in FIG.6, is fixed to the underside of the bracket 41 and the underside of theconductor ribbon 49. The end of the conductor ribbon 49 is fixed to oneside of the sensor 43. A second similarly shaped Velcro strap 54, PartB, is fixed to shoe upper surface 15, shoe forward surface 16, and shoelower toe surface 17, and in this way the signal processor-displayhousing 40, the conductor ribbon 49, the sensor 43, and Velcro strapportion 51, can be removed from the skate as a unit, and particularlyfrom shoe mounted Velcro strap 54. This enables the speedometer-odometerassembly to be removed for calibration, repair, and most frequently foractivities that may damage the speedometer assembly such as hockey.

The sensor 43 has a sensing rod contained therein that operates with aHall effect with magnetic elements illustrated in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, toproduce a pulse as a result of the magnetic field generated by a magnetas it passes the sensor 43. This arrangement produces a pulse for eachrevolution of the wheel 28 that is transmitted by conductor 45 to asignal processing circuit 60 in the signal processor display 40. Theprocessed signals are stored in a storage area 61 which is sensed by adisplay driving circuit 62, which in turn drives an upwardly directedLCD display 63.

The storage circuit 61 includes calibration circuitry suitable foraccommodating different diameter wheels and also for changing theassembly function from velocity to accumulated distance. Calibration canalso be selected in either metric or English as will appear to thoseskilled in the art. Switches 64, 65 and 66 accommodate these variousfunctions and provide user input to the contained on-board circuitrywhich includes an on-board battery.

As seen in FIG. 7, the present magnetic element 58 includes an annularshank portion 70 with a pointed end 71 and an enlarged threaded portion72 at its other end. Shank portion 70 is the magnetic element andproduces the magnetic field to be sensed by Hall effect sensor 43.

An important aspect of the present invention is seen in FIGS. 8 to 10,where the magnetic element is embedded directed into the solidelastomeric tire portion 37 in the forward wheel 28. Because theelastomeric wheel portion 37 is fairly rigid, in the Shore A 80 to 100range, it is machineable so that holes can be drilled in its treadsurface or side surface to receive and hold a magnetic element 58. Atthe same time, its somewhat resilient characteristics provide some shockresistance for the magnetic element 58 that reduces the possibility ofthe magnetic element 58 working its way out of the wheel tread 37.

As seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, a magnetic element can be drilled and threadedinto the outer peripheral tire portion 74 in a radially inwardlydirected fashion as seen in FIG. 8, or can be threaded into an axialbore in the side of the tread portion 37 as seen in FIG. 8. Both thealternatives shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 can be utilized in either the OEM orthe after-market.

In the FIG. 8 mounting design, another magnet may be used having one ormore barbs at its radially inner end. This type of fastening elementwould be undamaged by tread wear, whereas the screw threads 72 mayexperience some wear.

A further alternative is shown in FIG. 10, where a magnetic plug 80 isillustrated that is insert molded when the wheel tread portion is castdirectly into the tread portion 37a. The insert molding technique can beutilized in both the OEM and the after-market, but in the after-marketthe speedometer-odometer assembly 10 would require a new forward wheel28 carrying the embedded magnetic plug 80.

An important aspect of the present invention and as seen in FIG. 11, isthe provision of means for adjusting the position of the sensor radiallyinwardly toward the axis of the forward wheel 28 as the tread portion 37of the wheel wears. This is accomplished in the FIG. 11 embodiment bytwo additional Velcro strips 84 and 85 releasably attached to the Velcrostrips 51 and 54 directly above the sensor 43. Strips 84 and 85 can be apart of the kit in which the speedometer assembly 10 is sold, andadditional strips can be provided if necessary to accommodate furtherwear, or they can be thinner to accommodate lesser wear. This adjustmentassures, depending upon the position of the magnetic element in thewheel tread 37, that the sensor will pick up the field produced by themagnetic element, particularly in the FIG. 8 embodiment where themagnetic element may move inwardly as the tire tread wears.

In FIG. 12, the speedometer-odometer assembly is removed from the lowerVelcro strap 54, which is replaced by a protective Velcro cover strap 90that keeps the strap 54 free of foreign matter.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wheel assembly for an in-line roller skateadapted to be used in conjunction with a skate carried speedometer orodometer assembly, including a central hub carrying a bearing, a Shore Adurometer elastomer carried by the hub having an outer tread surface.and a magnet embedded in the elastomer in a position where its magneticfield passes outwardly from the elastomer, said magnet having a threadedportion so the magnet can be threaded into the elastomer.
 2. A wheelassembly for an in-line roller skate adapted to be used in conjunctionwith a skate carried sensor, comprising: a wheel assembly having aperiphery, and a sensing element mounted on the wheel assembly near theperiphery thereof in a position to be sensed by the skate sensor, saidsensing element including a magnet, and the wheel assembly including anelastomeric tire, said magnet being embedded in the tire, said magnethaving a threaded portion so the magnet can be threaded into theelastomer.
 3. A wheel assembly for an in-line roller skate as defined inclaim 2, wherein the magnet is inserted into a hole in the side of theelastomer parallel to the axis of the wheel assembly.
 4. A wheelassembly for an in-line roller skate as defined in claim 2, wherein themagnet is inserted into a hole in the tread surface of the elastomer ina generally radial direction.